


Red and Gold

by strawhat4life



Category: Disney - All Media Types, Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/M, I'm only up to season 2, Magic, Multi, Post Season 3, Rumbelle romance, Rumple's childhood, Rumple/OC BROTP, Storybrooke, adventures of little Rumple and friend, bare with me please, bit of Captain Swan, enchanted forest, quite a few OC's i'm sorry, rated T for violence in later chapters
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-09-16
Updated: 2014-09-16
Packaged: 2018-02-17 16:08:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,517
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2315486
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/strawhat4life/pseuds/strawhat4life
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rumpelstiltskin, even though he was supposed to die is saved by an old childhood friend and brought to the enchanted forest to heal his injuries and to generally catch up on all the old times they've missed over the years. But when she suddenly goes missing Rumple must return the favor and return to Storybrooke seeking help to save her.<br/>Many things are revealed to him about his own past that not even Rumple knew as he works on keeping a promise to protect this friend of his as she has him for so long.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Red and Gold

**Author's Note:**

> hi! so this is ridiculous but i'm trying to write post season 3 (before season 4) even though I've only seen up to season 2 thank you friends for spoilers and inspiration right? This does have Quite a few OC's in it I'm sorry but they also aren't that original either all of them are in the Studio Ghibli/Disney Franchise we just OUAT oc'd them I guess is the best way to say it? If this works out well I'll post a sequal to the story but this one is going to be a few chapters as said in the tags it is Rated T for violence in later chapters but I might up the rating due to other things that might happen eventually including some rather creepy themes. I do hope you enjoy this I've wanted them to look more into when Rumple was a child and thought this would be a fun way to do it myself! so thank you for reading I hope you enjoy!

     Rumple awoke suddenly from another horrific dream to something breaking in the kitchen; he sat up and gripped his chest tightly in pain. He…he was alive? How was this possible? He had died hadn’t he?  
“You’re awake sooner than I thought,” Rumple would have known that voice any where he looked up to see the smiling young red head as she entered with a bowl of stew and a glass of water.  
“Brunhilde?” he asked as she sat down on the stool beside him “B-but how could you have-“  
“I convinced some friends of my Mother’s that you deserved a second chance.” She replied putting the tray gently down on his lap

“Brunhilde how are you here?” he asked her but she ignored him though looking through some papers that she had, had sitting on his bedside table   
“That’s where these things went.” She muttered folding them up and putting them in the pocket of her red dress Rumple grew a bit annoyed at her ignoring him  
“Brunhilde!”  
“I age differently than you do, even as the dark one I age differently than you do.” Brunhilde insisted rolling her eyes Rumple still couldn’t believe it, she didn’t look a day over twenty she had even looked older the last time he saw her he just didn’t understand  
“Brunhilde did-did you- ?”  
“Yes Rumple.” Brunhilde said rolling her eyes at him as sarcasm dripped from her tone “I the sweet little thing you pulled from the ocean as a child stole someone’s youth for herself because I’m just that evil and heartless and that’s why I’ve brought you back too and then I’m going to go to Storybrooke and steal the youth out of all the other people there too like the evil sea hag I am.”   
Rumple couldn’t help but laugh a bit at her as he shook his head making himself sit up a little more despite the pain he felt

“Your understanding of sarcasm sure has gotten better.” He commented causing her to smile again as she helped him  
“So how did you find me?”  
“You ask a lot of questions,” Brunhilde commented to him   
“Funny you don’t seem to answer many, it would seem our roles have reversed if I remember when we were small you asked all the questions though they were mostly ‘what does this do? How does that work? How could you possibly have done something like this’ “he said mimicking her and Brunhilde laughed a little bit it was so nice to see her old friend again.   
“When you’re strong enough my father says he’ll send us back to Storybrooke so that you can see Belle.” Her blue green eyes reflecting the happiness she felt for her friend  
“Brunhilde-“  
“Will you stop calling me that? You know you can call me Ponyo and stop calling me Akane I’m going to start having more names than you.” Ponyo smiled Rumple laughed a little bit taking the spoonful of stew and taking a small bite  
“I haven’t seen you sense my wedding, why are you helping me?” Ponyo gave a small shrug and a sheepish smile  
“You needed a friend.” She told him

~

_Rumpelstiltskin, age eight, ran across the muddy sea shore after the other children. They did this quite often to the young boy he was often left behind because he was much smaller than the other boys his age and frankly the others thought he was strange. They were mean and often picked on him but having never having anyone who really cared for him other than his mother; they were the only friends that he had._

_The children finally stopped and looked like they were trying to organize a game when Rumple finally caught up to them, stopping to catch his breath as he heard and ignored some groans from the other kids  
“H-hey didn’t…didn’t you hear me shouting for you guys to slow down?” Rumple asked through gasps and wheezing breaths and even though the children quickly said no Rumple knew that they had, but he made himself smile any way._

_“What are we playing today?” Rumple asked them once he was finally ok enough to speak normally and stand up straight the children all grew very quiet shuffling their feet and staring at one another as if not wanting to tell him, probably because they didn’t want too._

_“Well we have a special game planned,” One of the older boys said with a smile “But you can only play if you do something special first.”_  
Rumple gave him a curious look unsure of what he meant   
“What would I have to do?” He asked him slowly the boy simply grinned at him and shook his head   
“No way, it’s much too hard for someone like you Rumpelstiltskin.” The boy said shaking his head only urging the young boy on further insisting that he could until the older boy seemingly caved   
“Alright, alright I’ll tell you but you gotta swear not to tell anyone.”

_With in the hour Rumple found himself going to the North shore with a bucket in one hand and a net in the other, his task? To catch a magic fish. Apparently all the other children had already done and completed this task and that must have been what got them socially accepted to the group, so if Rumple caught one of these magic fish then perhaps they’d start liking him more?_

_Rumple sat on the rock that the boy had told him to and looked into the water below him, waiting to find a fish, many swam by but when Rumple caught them he couldn’t find any signs of it being anything other than a normal fish.  
Rumpelstiltskin sat there for hours, catching fish and throwing them back when he couldn’t find anything about them that was considered magic or even some what special._

_Rumpelstiltskin sat in the warm sun for hours his eyes drooping closed before he drifted off into sleep he heard a loud clank of his bucket and jolted awake, scooping the bucket up quickly he noticed something that he hadn’t seen before._  
A small red fish swam in circles around the bucket, a fish unlike he had ever seen before and it fascinated him  
“Hello there,” He greeted with a small smile “Now what kind of fish are you dearie?”

 _“A goldfish,” Rumple stopped jaw dropped as he stared into the bucket for a second had…had this fish talked to him? Was it just the heat of the day or was he really hearing a fish speak to him?_  
“D-did you just-“  
“Uh huh” the fish giggled as if she was a child herself before flipping backwards in the bucket and a broad grin spread over his face he had done it! He had caught a magic fish as his friends had told him! Rumple climbed off the rock and began to hurry up the beach  
“What are you doing?” the Goldfish asked as it sloshed around in the bucket   
“I’m taking you to my friends! They said if I could catch a magic fish that I could be friends with them.” He told her excitedly before a stream of water was splashed up into his face and he nearly tripped, catching himself just before he did.   
“What was that for?” Rumple asked her frowning at her the fish didn’t look very happy either  
“you can’t take me to them! They’ll sell me or eat me or worse!” the fish said frantically the tremble in the small fish’s voice was nearly heartbreaking to the boy that had captured her  
“Well….well what should I do? I have to tell them something!”  
“If you let me go I’ll give you a wish,” The fish promised him “I can grant one wish and I will give it to you if you let me go.” She said Rumple hesitated a wish? A wish all for him? He could wish for anything and all he had to do was let this fish go  
“Can you grant my wish first? You could be tricking me.” He asked her frowning suspiciously but the fish shook her head quickly at him  
“No you have to set me in the water first; please you just have to trust me.”   
Rumple thought long and hard about his choices in the end he found himself dumping the bucket back into the shallows of the water, the little goldfish swam happily around his feet for a moment causing the boy to laugh a bit before she settled in front of him  
“What would you like? I can grant you just about anything.” She promised him Rumpelstiltskin thought about his wish, what did he want? After a long pondering he could only think of one thing he wanted, something he wanted more than anything else in this world, Rumpelstiltskin closed his eyes and bit his lip nervously  
“I-I just want one thing…I just want a real friend, someone who cares about me and won’t treat me badly like the others do.” He asked of her he kept his eyes closed tight afraid of what she would think of him, hearing the waves on the shore was all the sound that was there for a moment before he felt a hand on his and he jumped opening his eyes and coming face to face with a little girl only a bit younger than him, with wild orange curls and the same blue green eyes of the ocean waters with pale skin and lips curled up into a happy smile.   
“I can do that,” the voice that spoke to him was that of the fish and it left Rumple speechless for a moment, the fish had turned herself into a human so that she could fulfill his wish for friendship and he couldn’t help but smile at her  
“What’s your name?” He asked her curiously  
“Brunhilde,”  
“I’m Rumpelstiltskin.” He greeted her happily she frowned a bit at him obviously in deep thought and Rumple smiled at her  
“What?”  
“That’s a very hard name to remember.” She said to him pouting a little and he couldn’t help but let out a laugh as he lead her back to the shore  
“Well Brunhilde isn’t going to be very easy to remember either.”  
Brunhilde couldn’t help but nod a little bit in agreement she didn’t even really like her name that much it was annoying and made her sound like old lady  
“So don’t call me Brunhilde, call me something else.” She told him shrugging after a long moment of thought he smiled  
“How about Ponyo?” he asked her Brunhilde smiled and giggled   
“That sounds perfect!” she said laughing a little bit she gave him a big hug Rumple smiled for the first time in a long time he was happy and he couldn’t wait to introduce everyone to his new friend.

~

“So you’ve been just waiting for me to need you again?” Rumple asked her his stew long sense finished as he downed the glass of water that had been given to him, Ponyo looked at her feet a bit and nodded  
“And I’m sorry I couldn’t have come sooner, but it seemed like every time you finally needed me again you had already solved your problem with out needing me.” Ponyo explained to him with a small smile. Rumpelstiltskin smiled at her a bit and shook his head  
“You know I missed you, why didn’t you come to see me sooner?” he asked her curiously but Ponyo just shook her head  
“That’s not important right now, you need to rest up and get your strength back.” Ponyo explained to him standing up she pushed her chair back against the wall and out of the way   
“If you need anything, just shout ok?” she asked him before she headed back out to the kitchen closing the door behind her. Rumple laid back in the bed and smiled a bit to himself, he thought Ponyo had disappeared or gone long ago like the rest of his past and yet here she was, sometimes he forgot that she was magic and that they had made a deal long ago as he drifted off to sleep however his mind was not on his childhood friend but on his wife back home in Storybrooke, how he wanted nothing more than to get back to her and assure her that he was alright and that everything was going to be alright. He drifted off into a light sleep not hearing Ponyo in the kitchen.

~  
“I’m telling you mother everything is fine, Rumple is completely safe here.” Ponyo assured her mother through the scrying pool she was using Gran Mamare the goddess of the ocean stared back at her  
“From his enemies or from yours? Ponyo I know you like to think that you’re a powerful sorceress but you are still learning.” Gran Mamare said to her daughter Ponyo sighed  
“His enemies all think he’s dead and I don’t really have any other than hunters, no one really wants to hurt me.” Ponyo told her now sitting down with a cup of tea in her hands and a smile on her face Gran Mamare still didn’t look very happy though  
“How’s dad doing?” Ponyo asked her hoping to get the subject off of Ponyo’s care free life on the shore compared to her other responsibilities that still lay below the waves.

“Your father is fine he still isn’t happy that you’re still involved with that human and putting yourself so at risk by being with him, you know how he is with humans.” Gran Mamare told her daughter with a slightly defeated sigh Ponyo couldn’t help the small smile that tugged at the corner of her lips though  
“Considering he used to be one you’d think he’d be more understanding.” Ponyo said glancing out the window when she saw a pair of eyes from the water not too far away; Ponyo simply closed the window knowing it was her father’s way of checking on her. He still treated her like such a child sometimes. Ponyo still hadn’t realized that the eyes watching her from outside however was not one of her father’s creatures, a dark shadow peering in through the window no one would ever have suspected it would they.

It’s owner letting out a dark chuckle an evil smile twisted on his cruel face  
“Rumpelstiltskin and a Goddess of the sea, well it looks like we’ve got our work cut out for us don’t we shadow?” he asked in a thick accent unlike one from anywhere around this part of the enchanted forest, the shadow snickered before returning to it’s spot behind it’s master on the ground.  
“We’ll just have to stick around, see who this information could be valuable to won’t we?” and with that the stranger took out a handful of a strange purple powder and blew it out of his hand, the dark smoke swirled around him and in a flash he was gone, as if he had never been there to begin with.


End file.
